Glass furnace



Nov. 2,1926. w 1,605,885

P. G. WILLETTS GLASS FURNACE Filed June 24, 1926 Pad .h ZZZ 52%"Patented Nov. 2, 1926.

PAUL G. WILLETTS, Oil! BERLIN, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR ro nanrronp nmrmnrCOMPANY, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION oFtDELAwARE.

' enass summon.

application filed June 24,

My invention relates to glass melting furnaces, and its object is toprovide such a furnace having its bottom and its melting end lined witha high-grade refractory material which will not float in the moltenglass and which, therefore, may be safely backed by other material forinsulating 0r reinforcing purposes. 1

The single figure of the accompanym drawing is a transverse verticalsectiona view through a portion of a glass furnace constructed inaccordance with my inven: tion, the heating arrangements and somedetails of construction being omitted. 1 It has been recognized that itwould be desirable to line glass melting furnaces with blocks ofhigh-grade refractory material and to surround the side walls and bottomwith insulating layers or with layers of ordinarf'refractory material toadd to the strength of the walls and to, reduce the dissipation of heatthrough them; It has not been possible to do this with safety, however,because the refractories that have been atall suitable for contact -withthe glass have been lighter than the molten glass and,- therefore, ableto float in the glass. In such cases, molten glass penetrating betweenand beneath the blocks composing the furnace 3 lining would cause theblocks to. float out of place, The bottom. blocks and the top courses ofthe side walls are particularly likely to be dislod ed in this way,especially at the melting en of the furnace where the '3 glasstemperature is hi hest.- The side-wall blocks can be keptin p ace byloading them with additional wei ht, as by supportm the crown and thebri ge wall 11%011 the g assengaging side walls, but the ottom blocksmay still float out of place, even if 'the side walls are loaded.Therefore it has been the customary vpractice to build the bottoms ofglass furnaces, andthe side walls. at the A melting ends of the-,furnaces, ofsingle layers of blocks, so that the glass enteringbetween the blocks will freezegbefore'the glass can penetratebeh'ndtheblockslrid "float them out ofplace. 'This is one of the reasonswhy, the dissipation of heat from; 1 lass furnaces hasbeen so high, andaliough. it" has long been recognized that a large. part of the heatintroduced into-glass i is di p t d t e s hr gh-the heavier than themolten glass.

i926. Serial no. v 118,235.

furnace walls, it has not been possible safely to insulate the furnacewalls, except he side walls at the working end of the'furnace where theglass is coldest.

According to my present invention, I rovide the bottom and side walls ofa g ass melting furnace with glass-engaging surfaces composed ofrefractory blocks of high grade and'of such specific gravity that they Iare heavier than the molten glass .which is to come into contact withthe blocks. If

the lass shouldpenetrate between and be-.

hin such blocks, this does no ,harm, because the glass will not be ableto, dislodge the blocks by causin them to float. I also pre- V fer toimprove urther the construction of the furnace. by surrounding the sidewalls nd bottom with cheaper refractory blocks, intended to increase thestrength of the furnace, and I may also safely surround the side wallsand bottom of the furnace with in sula-ting materiaL: As. pointed outabove,-

the use of such insulating material does not enable the molten glass tofloat the lining,

blocks out of place; because suchblocksare The accompanying drawin is-asomewhat diagrammatic illustratlon o the mannerin which my invention isemployed. In the. drawing, the numerals 2 indicate the side wall liningof the furnace and the numeral 3 the bottom wall lining, these liningsbein composed of refractory blocks of high gra e, that are heavier thanthe molten glass 4 and are capable of great resistance to the corrosiveand erosive action rof molten glass. The refractory linings 2 and Baresurrounded by a backing-layer 5 which may be composed of Erdinaryrefractory material,. such? as the 11 gla ss tanks,.this backing layerserving to strengthen the tank walls and to distri uts the stressestherein, particularly to support the weight of the furnace, from beneathand. I to resist outward stresses in the upper por- Outside of the back-6 of fire brick or.- v 5 bottom. of the furnace rest upon cross-beams-Bthat aresup- Y tions of the furnace v -1ng layer 5 is an outflr layer'insulation. The sides=.-and

-ported upon' ,piers .9. p The usual buck-stays 10, connected by tierods ,11,'support the furn'ac'e crown v1.2 mdepen, ently of thesideblocks. heretofore used in building vice .105 was. a1; beam a e desiredsize and shape, and firing the pressed The blocks composing the side andbottom linings 2 and 3 may be provided with interlocking corrugations toreduce the pene-- tration of molten glass between the blocks, as shownin my copending application for Letters Patent filed April 6, 1926,Serial No. 100,121.

My present invention is not limited to the use of any particularmaterial as the lining of thefurnace, but I may suitably employ for thispurpose the refractory tank blocks described and claimed in my copendingapplication for Letters Patent filed March 1, 1926, Serial No. 91,361,wherein I describe high grade refractories composed mainly of combinedsilica and alumina and made by a process including the grinding ofselected silicious and aluminous ingredients tosuch fineness as toenable the ingredients to combine with substantial homogeneity,intimately mixing the ingredients in selected proportions, forming themixed materials into preliminary bodies su table. for handling, firingthe preliminary bOdlGS grinding the fired material to such fineness toform a grog or skeleton for a subsequent final assembly, then makingsuch final assembly by mixing the ground material in selectedproportions with other unfired material of the same composition andground to materially greater fineness, pressing the finally assembledmaterial to form blocks of the blocks -to a temperature suflicient tocause the siliciousand aluminous material to combine, but withoutsufficient fusion to materiall change the shape of the blocks. For furter detailsas to the preparatlon of such blocks, reference may be had tomy copending application identified above;

The; invention described above accomplishes a new and'valuable result,in that it gives the glass art the ability to safely insulate the bottomof a melting furnace, and the ability to safely insulate all parts ofthe sidewalls of the furnace without loading theeide walls with extraweight.

. It will be understood that my invention is not limited to the detailsof construction which are shown herein for illustrative purposes only,and that my invention includes all such structures as fall within thescope of the appended claims.

. I claim as my invention: 1. A glass furnace having at least a part ofthe glass-engaging portion of its bottomcomposed of refractory blockswhich are of greater specific gravity than the molten glass to becontained in therefore cannot be dislodged by floating in said lass.

a sa a least a 90;

said furnace, and which greater specific gravity than the glass that isto be contained in said furnace and which therefore cannot be dislodgedby floating in said glass.

3. A glass furnace having its glass-contacting sides and bottom lined,at least in part with refractory blocks which are of greater specificgravity than the molten glass to be contained in said furnace and whichtherefore cannot be dislodged by floating in said glass.

4. A glass furnace having its glass-contacting sides and bottom lined,at least in part with refractory blocks that are of greater specificgravity than the molten glass to be contained in said furnace, the saidlining being surrounded by a backing of other refractory material.

5. A glass furnace having its glass-contacting sides and bottom lined,at least "in part with refractory blocks that are of greater specificgravity than the molten glass to be contained in said furnace, the saidlining being surrounded by a backing of insulating material.

6. A glass furnace. having its glass-contacting sides part withrefractory blocks that are of greater specific gravity and bottom lined,at least in than the molten glass to be contained in said furnace, thesaid lining being surrounded fractory material lating material.

7.-A glass furnace having its glass-conby a backing of other reand witha layer of insutacting "sides lined with refractory blocks that are ofmolten glass tobe contained in said furnace, a backing of other materialsurrounding said lining,'a crown spanning said side walls, and means forsupporting the weight of said crown independently of said side walls. 8.A glass furnace having its melting end lined with refractory blockswhich are of greater specific gravity than the molten glass to becontained in saidfurnace, and which therefore cannot be dislodged byfloatingin said glass, the region of the furnace that is so lined beingbacked by other refractory material.

9. A glass furnace having its melting end lined with refractory blockswhich are of greater specific gravity than the molten glass the r s npfthe furnace greater specific gravity than the,

11. A glass furnace other refractory material. 1

that. is so lined'being backed by a, layer of other refractory materialand by a layer of insulating material.

having at least a part of the glass-engaging portion of its bottomcomposed of refractory blocks which are of greater specific gravity thanthe'molten glass to be contained in' said furnace, and'which thereforecannot be dislodged by floating in said glass, the said blocks beingbacked by 12. A glass furnace having at least a part of its glassengaging surface composed of refractory blocks which are ofgreater'specific gravity than the molten glass to be contained in saidfurnace, and which therefore cannot be dislodged by floating in saidglass. 13. A glass furnace having at least a part of itsglass-engagingsurface composed of refractory blocks which are of greater specificgravity than the tained in said furnace, and which therefore cannot bedislodged by floating in said glass, the said blocks being backed byother refractory material.

Signed-at Hartford, Conn, this 18th day of June, 1926.

' PAUL G. WILLETTS.

molten glass to be con-

